A Maric's kin Werewolf in Denerim
by dustywalker
Summary: Alistair learns the hard way why splitting the party is a bad idea, especially in the Brecilian Forest. (Gah, my summary stinks.) M for language, just to be sure.


_**I'm not really sure where all this came from, but something in my brain clicked over during my Hallowe'en Werewolf movie marathon...**_

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><p>"What an ungrateful moron" the Warden sneered, as the group marched down an overgrown path.<p>

"We left Redcliffe three days ago, my friend" Zevran murmured, after receiving several 'say something' looks from the other companions. "Surely you can stop complaining about your choice to restore the Arl to health?"

"Seriously – in a coma for months, and his first words are 'took you long enough!'"

"We all heard him" Oghren groaned. "Suck it up, and move on!"

Wynne shrugged. "Oghren is rig-" Shuddering at the thought, she tried again. "Oghren has the correct _sentiment_, Warden. Eamon was still recovering from his illness, so you shouldn't dwell on his waking words."

"Not 'where's my family?'… not even 'why was I dumb enough to drink something my son's shifty-eyed tutor gave me?' Then he just had to start bitching about Alistair not being there. The guy used to lock him in with the horses… how was I meant to know he'd want to cash in his meal-ticket?"

Feeling a vein throb on his forehead, Sten tapped Wynne on the shoulder. Pointing to her staff, he held out his other hand. Nodding, she silently passed it over and mouthed 'do it'.

"I guess I should be grateful for his skewed priorities – he didn't even blink when Isolde started bellyaching about how I treated-" A violent impact sounded as the Warden staggered forward, almost crashing to the ground.

"Parshaara!" Sten hissed, before tossing the staff back to the grateful Mage.

Undoing the straps, the Warden stared at where his helmet had been clubbed. "Come on… this was my favourite!" Getting no reaction as they continued to walk on ahead, he turned to his Mabari. "Look what they did to my helmet, Furthemiel!" Keeping his eyes down, the Mabari tried to walk past. "… Oh, have you got something to say as well?" the Warden frowned.

Furthemiel simply rolled his eyes, mostly for the Warden's continued use of the ridiculous name he had come up with. _Mabari don't talk, idiot…_

The Warden glared down. "What?"

_What what? I didn't say anything…_

"Uh-huh… let's keep it that way." Spitting at the nearest tree, the Warden glowered. "Fine, I'll shut up! Let's just go find Alistair, and dump him at Eamon's place in Denerim."

Oghren looked back. "Aye, let those two twerps deal with each other… it's what the little pike-twirler deserves, for getting the easy mission while we went back to Redcliffe! He's probably already found those tree-humping Elves, and they're just all sitting around sniffing flowers."

"I'll be sure to wipe the smile off his face, if so" Sten voiced.

"Ha… with our luck, even that meeting went incredibly bad and-" the Warden trailed off, as a sinking feeling took hold.

"… I'm sure he would be able to handle-" Wynne looked about the sceptical faces around her. Even Furthemiel had his head tilted. "… Perhaps, but he has the others with him, and… **fuck**."

Sten sighed in agreement, while Oghren simply leered. "I love it when women talk dirty…"

"I was wondering if our dear Wynne had it in her" Zevran replied.

"Hur hur… is that why you keep offering to _put_ it in her?" Oghren joked. Sten motioned for Wynne's staff again, cutting off their banter as the two smiled sheepishly. They all quickened their pace through the Forest.

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><p>On the outskirts of the Dalish camp, Shale glanced about. "They still haven't returned."<p>

"The journey must be longer than was expected" Morrigan replied absently, placing a feather to mark another page in the Grimoire. "Give it another day or so…"

"I meant the other two fleshbags" Shale explained.

"Hmm?" Morrigan finally looked up. "… Still?" She glanced around the camp. "It would seem you're correct…" About to return to her reading, she stopped and studied the sun's position in the sky. "It's only been a few hours, perhaps they're waiting for nightfall to sneak in a carcass for the insipid whiner so he can try to impress that woman."

Shale moved over to stare down at Morrigan. "That was **yesterday**… perhaps they went looking for these supposed werewolves."

Sighing as Shale's position blocked her reading light, Morrigan shrugged. "'Tis possible they were that stupid."

"So…"

"So it is hardly our problem. We both warned them from such idiocy, after all."

Shale thought for a moment. "True… I shall return to watching the road, and leave it to its _crucial _mission of leisure."

"Then go, already! How am I ever meant to finish this, with your infernal prattling?" Morrigan waved, and returned to the Grimoire. "Naturom Demonto: Khandar estrada khandos… thrus indactu nosfrandus Khandar-" she paused, and glanced about as a sudden harsh wind howled through the trees. Before she could continue reciting the passage, Shale returned and bumped her foot. "What now?!"

Shale made the Golem equivalent of a cough, as the Warden's group marched into the camp. He took a long look around, and sighed. "… I knew it. Well, where's Alistair?"

Shale and Morrigan exchanged glances. "… Don't look at me" the Witch began, "I told the Golem to watch them, while I worked. 'Tis hardly my fault."

"I did watch them" Shale snorted in response. "I watched them whispering, I watched them gather their gear… and then I watched them walk out through the gate yesterday, despite all the warnings from the Keeper."

"Yeste… _what _warnings?" the Warden asked, as his shoulders slumped.

Morrigan and Shale exchanged another guilty look. "Well, you're probably going to hear some rumours about werewolves…"

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><p>Dragging Leliana's prone body, Alistair stared ahead at the Denerim gates. "Urrm… hold on" he barked, feeling his stomach churn again. "Almost there."<p>

"Wha… what?" she asked, the fading light of dusk making it even harder for her eyes to focus.

"Den'rim… Genitivi should be back, and he still has the remaining ashes."

"Ash… will they help?" she replied, wincing as the pain grew.

"Probably… the Dalish will just shoot us, if we go back like this. We made it this far, so _somebody _ up there wants us to make it…" Alistair kept his head down as they approached the city guards at the gates.

"… Evening, sers" one said mockingly. "Looks like your friend here needs to sleep it off."

Fighting the urge to growl, Leliana managed to hold up her wounded arm. The guards stepped back. "… Apologies, miss. There should be a healer at the Chantry."

"Gates…" she muttered, almost baring her growing teeth.

Once the gates swung shut again, Alistair almost dropped Leliana as he began to spasm. After a moment, he stood up and dragged her to a side-alley. "Stay here… I'll run to his house!"

"Can't go far" she gasped, feeling the muscles in her legs burn and shift. Nodding, Alistair turned and staggered towards the marketplace. With his own legs beginning to change, he tripped several times before beginning to crawl as he rounded the corner leading to Genitivi's house.

Sitting outside after another gruelling workday, Goldana slowly relaxed as the evening wind blew in from the ocean. Hearing odd grunts across the square, she squinted to notice a shaggy-haired man crawling in the direction of the Gnawed Noble. "Huh… bloody drunks!" she muttered to herself, looking up as his sounds became more forceful. Frowning, she went back inside and barred the door. "Sounds like some idiot's gonna start trouble tonight" she told her children, "so just keep the windows shut, got it?"

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><p>Staring about in confusion, a red-tinged werewolf began to rise in the side-alley she had crawled into. "Where… forest… Lady? Needed to find Lady?" she slurred, trying to clear her mind. Noticing some familiar buildings, memories began returning. "Denerim… Lady… r'venge!" Her anger grew, as a woman's cold, smirking face appeared before her mind's eye. "Marjolaine… close…" she growled, sneaking through the lane-ways towards their old base of operations.<p>

Pouring herself a wine, Marjolaine listened to her agent. "And you're sure?"

"Yes, ma'am… her and a man entered the city through the main gate. Looking like wounded drunks, from where I was watching."

"How _inelegant_" she murmured. "But I suppose nobody cares to look at such vagrants too closely." Marjolaine clapped her hands, and gestured. "So my little bird will be here, tonight I expect. It's a shame she's so predictable, or I might have a sense of satisfaction…" she took another sip, as her men took their places. Amidst their clatter, nobody heard as something heavy landed on the thatched roof.

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><p>Sneering as his quarry continued to crawl into an alley, Ser Landry slowly followed. 'This will be too easy… but the Regent will be glad to see you in chains.' Stepping in the dark alley, he drew his blade. "Come on out, Grey Warden. Surrender peacefully, and I'm sure Loghain will be honourable and just." Before he could say any more, he tripped over a hidden pile of discarded armour. As he got to one foot, a clawed arm swung out from the shadows to disembowel the Knight. Landry could only gape in horror as a massive beast loomed over him.<p>

"I've seen his honour" Alistair snarled, before another blow struck home. Dumping the body out of sight, he leapt up a wall and stared at the city below as his new senses feasted on the ocean breeze and the scents it blew around him. As he paced along the walls that ran around the Alienage, he heard amused voices from the other side, as an Elf woman was dragged from a large building and thrown to the ground.

"… You cannot treat her in this fashion! She is-"

"She is under my _watchful_ protection" a slimy voice answered from the doorway. "After all, there is nobody the Regent trusts more than me… and surely his daughter doesn't question him? These are dangerous times, for people who do."

"But-"

Growing colder, the voice spoke again. "But nothing… the Regency will be confirmed, and all threats to the Realm dealt with. Then it will be safe for the Queen again… I don't suppose you'd care to expedite matters, hmm?"

The Elf remained silent, but her reaction must have amused the unseen man. "Of course you do… so, if these pet Wardens of Guerrin's managed to find the servant's entrance unlocked, they just might be caught unaware when they came inside. I'm sure that their removal would convince me of the Queen's safety, after all… now scurry along."

Once the woman had hurriedly left, the voice lowered. "Lowan, the men are prepared?"

"Yes m'lord… but I'm worried."

"You worry too much… you worried about Highever, and that all turned out well."

"Of course – but the Queen…"

"What of her?" the voice sighed.

"Holding her is dangerous… if word gets out, it could generate dissension at the Landsmeet."

"The only word that will _get out _is that the Wardens launched an attack on this Estate, and murdered our beloved Queen."

The visible figured bowed. "As you say, m'lord. I shall double-check the preparations."

"Yes… as I say. I shall leave it in your hands, and visit with my other _guests _before I retire for the night."

Marking their scents, Alistair jumped down in the shadows of the Estate wall. "Trap… kill" he snarled to himself, sniffing the air to locate the guards' positions. As the Estate door began to shut, he raced forward and crashed through the wooden barrier. The lone sentry was smashed into a wall by his charge, as several soldiers in the foyer stared in shock. Before Alistair could pursue the two targets, the soldiers drew their weapons.

"Kill it!" one shouted, before he was batted away. Roaring, the large werewolf began throwing its assailants left and right. Enraged at the realisation his quarry were getting away, he slashed out at the last few with lethal force. Satisfied, he began down the hallway in pursuit. With the chase driving his bloodlust further, Alistair finally reached them.

A magister beside the slimy-voiced man studied the creature before them. "Curious…"

"You can study it, if you bring it down alive" his apparent master sneered. "I'd rather just kill it… then I'll have done _everything _a Cousland ever did."

The battle was brief and bloody, however, and Alistair cornered Howe against a wall. "Maker spit on you, you damned beast! I des-" Alistair lunged forward, and silenced him by tearing out his throat. Sensing a familiar presence, he stared at one of the prisoners. The man's eyes widened as he also felt a familiar tingling in his blood

"Warden…" Alistair growled, as the man nodded. Rather than try to check the bodies for a key, Alistiair merely ripped the cell door from the wall and hurled it across the room. Hearing a crash, followed by a shocked gurgle, they both looked over. The door had slammed into that of another cell, with the impact smashing the second door inward. A jagged edge from one of the doors had proceeded to drive into the chest of a well-dressed blonde prisoner. Roughly shrugging, Alistair began to pad out of the room as the other Warden recovered his equipment.

"Done… find Lady" Alistair muttered, following the results of his earlier rampage back through the Estate. As he walked, hurried footsteps came toward him.

"Quickly! I don't know what's panicking them, but we must slip away while-" A blonde woman and the Elf he had seen earlier, each carrying a dagger, stopped short and stared up in shock as they rounded a corner.

"… Wrong Lady." He went to turn, before looking back at the Elf. "…Queen lady?" They both slightly nodded in confusion, before stopping themselves. "Running… this way?" he asked, pointing.

"I… there is a back entrance, further up. The main courtyard is filling with guards.." Erlina offered, not sure how else to react to the talking creature.

"From the trap… yes" Alistair replied.

Anora glanced back and forth. 'Of course this was some scheme of Howe's…' "I don't know if it's a trap, or simply a reaction to your rampage… but-" she trailed off as the werewolf began sniffing the air.

"Dogs coming… which way?" he rasped.

"... Two lefts and a right, down that passage" Erlina gestured.

"Go… I follow."

They exited the farming portion of the Estate, hearing the sounds of troops running back and forth. A woman's voice bellowed above the din, shouting orders. "Cauthrien…" Anora whispered. "Nothing good will come of her finding me here…"

Alistair looked around to quickly check the distance of the area. Carefully grabbing a woman under each arm, he darted to the wall. Hearing the soldiers shout in response, he judged the wall's height, and leapt mid-run onto the top. Checking they were alright, he dropped down into an alley. Staring at the street signs, he realised they were back in the market district and released them. "I am this way… you go run now" he shrugged, and headed back to try finding Genitivi again.

"My Lady?" Erlina asked, as they watched him go.

"I don't where that thing is going, but let's at least wait until they find it and get distracted before trying to run through a city now teeming with nervous guards" Anora declared. "It may even have a hiding spot." Raising her shoulders confidentally, she headed in the same direction. Panicked, Erlina waited a moment before following.

Reaching the alleyway where he had left Landry's body, Alistair retreated behind some crates and sat down. Glancing up, he said nothing as Anora carefully approached. "Too many, to try knocking loud enough to wake him" he finally said.

"You… were hoping to make a social call?" the Queen asked, further questioning reality.

"Genitivi, there" he pointed. "Ashes maybe cure… I _know_ sneaky old man pocket some..." Seeing Erlina approach and drop down behind a stack of boxes, he shrugged. "Maybe _she_ knock in morning." As they sat in silence, his fur began to glow. "Hrrrmm... what now?" The dull light surrounded his body, and hid him from view for a moment before fading away to reveal his human form. Staring at his hands, he looked up to see both women gawking at him. "… Hello. I mean – greetings, Your Highness… should I bow? I'm supposed to bow, right?" He went to stand up, before realising his situation. 'Maker's sweaty armpits! I shouldn't have done that…' "Uh… my armour should be behind that barrel, over there. Could one of you… _please_?" Erlina turned, allowing a brief smirk, as she retrieved the armour and made sure to approach closer than necessary to hand the pieces back to him. After awkwardly trying to shift his body to get into the basic pieces as he sat, he stood. "… Right, sorry about that. Even for me, that's a bad first impression to make… and I'm probably rambling." 'Of all the people… and then I **flashed** her! Maker…'

'Of all the people…' "Technically, the first impression was you getting us out of there" Anora offered, hoping his voice hadn't carried. "Let's stick with that, and decide what to do next."

Picking up on her whispering, Alistair lowered his voice as well. "… Well, if the curse broke, I guess the others found the camp. So they should be in Denerim soon… and I guess Eamon won't be far bad."

Anora raised an eyebrow. "You guess? I thought you would know…"

"If he's even awake… we decided I probably shouldn't go to Redcliffe, to heal him. After what happened, and how he and I left things…"

Trying to follow his rambling, she looked over. "So, Eamon hasn't been working with you? For this plot?"

"Plot?! If there's a plot, I'm not involved… and I haven't seen Eamon in years, not that he'd want to..."

'… Another delusion of Father's, then?' she pondered to herself. "So you've no aims on the throne, at all?"

He shook his head furiously. "I couldn't even lead four people, kind of four, to confirm a treaty… and everyone who knew about _that _always beat it into me that _that _is not something for a bastard to even think about. Besides, I know my gossip – you've been the one running things, and from I can tell, you do it well."

"So… you aren't gathering an army?" she asked, deciding to press the issue while she had the chance.

"Yes, but only against the Darkspawn. Before the battle, Duncan had us retrieve old treaties… with all the planning, we hadn't found them earlier. And when the Te… after what happened at Ostagar, our only real option was to try and get the treaties fulfilled. Your father… I'll just say it, he already had men looking to kill us **very** early on, so we couldn't exactly come to Denerim and let everyone know what we were doing."

"I suppose I understand, then… and you think they won't be far away?"

"… Unless they stop to search for us, in the Brecilian. But I imagine one or two will come with Eamon. It only took us a day and a bit to get here, and we were in pretty bad shape."

"You said 'us' again – somebody else is in the city?"

Alistair shot forward in horror. "Oh damn! … Stay here, I have to go find her! She must be back to normal too."

Stepping silently from the shadows, Leliana glared at him. "Keep your voice _down_, Alistair!" she hissed, sitting down next to him. "… But I'm fine, and thank you for the concern."

'I guess whatever lifted the curse fixed that, too' he noted, glancing at her now-healed arm before noticing something else. "Nice dress…?"

"All the strappings on my armour were too small for my new hands to work, so I had to tear most of it away. I found this, amongst her things…"

"Well, I hope she doesn't miss it, whoever she is… oh, do you mean _her_? Is she…?"

Leliana nodded. "Yes… I found myself there, when…"

"When we were slobbering rage-hounds? Fair enough… I made a bit of a mess, too."

Leliana looked around the alley. "This would explain the Queen being with you, I hope… and the body stuffed into that corner?"

"Let's just say it was a big mess" he offered, as Anora silently studied him.

'Exactly what Maric would have said…' "So" Anora said, "people will be watching for you and I, Alistair. Erlina too, I expect. Perhaps you…?"

"Leliana, your Majesty"

"Leliana. You can approach your friends when they arrive, and decide how to get us into Eamon's estate?"

A nearby crow began cawing at them insistently. Alistair looked over, and waved two fingers. "Yeah, yeah… we'll be here when you get back."

The bird shook its head, with apparent disdain, before it transformed into a woman. "I should hope so… if I have to endure another of his tirades, because you two could not stay put, we _shall _have trouble. Hopefully, that mess I'm guessing **you** caused by the gates shall not impede our entrance." With that, Morrigan shifted back to a bird, and flew west.

Anora watched her fly away, stunned. '… I thought such sights only appeared to people who eat spoiled grain.'

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><p><strong><em>... huh. I may do a second chapter, still weighing up what ideas I can get out of it.<em>**


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